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Louise Fletcher penned her observations on how Conan O’Brien (in effect) resigned from NBC in How to Resign With Class.  It’s a great read.

As companies hiring talent are we doing everything we can during this event in our newly-hired candidate’s life?  Perhaps not.  I know I can do better.  Here are some of the questions I’m asking of myself and recruiting team:

• Do I tell the candidate who just signed my offer letter, “Now let me tell you about the next, hard part: resigning…”
• Do I tell said candidate the range of likely emotions they’ll feel when they notify their current employer of their impending departure?
• Do I ask said candidate if they have an idea of how they plan to start, steer the conversation?  If they haven’t, am I ready to coach them on how to resign with class?
• Do I “inoculate” said candidate against counter offers?  Yes, there are counters begin made – even in this market
• Do I call the new hire after (they said they were going to resign) and ask, “How did it go?”  Do I use this an an opportunity to affirm their decision to join your organization?
• Do I help my hiring manager get ready for the new hires first week at our company?   Can the new hire tell that our company thought through his/her start with us and they have no regrets in resigning from their former employer?

Most hiring managers and recruiters think they “have” a candidate once the offer letter is signed.  Wrong.  The next step is a huge opportunity that, if taken hold of, can make your hire not just a new contributor in but also a fan of your organization.

Recently, we launched a search for a Creative Director.  For those who recruit in the creative or advertising agency world, this would seem easy as pie.  For me, this was a first, an adventure. Fortunately, I’ve been building my social network and for this search, Twitter came through.  My first move was to contact David Armano, who is someone I follow and a vice presdient at one of these agencies.  We had a conference call where I asked him how creative directors were “made”.  He mapped out three backgrounds typical of creative directors:

1. Copy writing
2. Art (or “design”)
3. Technologists (“problem solvers” leveraging technology to solve a challenges)  

I call this “typecasting” in the Hollywood sense that an actor or actress becomes known for a particular well-known role that they play.   In a similar way typecasting of candidates can over simplify their careers.  Isn’t that bad or un-pc?  Yes, but only if you’re a recruiting simpleton – and I don’t have you figured as one.

As a recruiting newbie, most industries are complex with many career paths both into and within them.  Typecasting of a skill set gives you a framework or reference point to start from.  As a recruiting pro, typecasting (especially when drawn out) can give you new ideas and fresh approaches to your search.  My conversation with David crystallized for me that we were searching for a creative director that hailed from the copy writing side of the business.  Here is the map of what I learned (figure).  

It’s simple, but it had an immediate impact on the:

1. Search structure: What companies and firms should I focus on looking for talent?  How can I better educate my client (hiring executive) in what the marketplace is like why my search strategy is the best way forward?
2. Communication:  How do I give potential candidates a better description of what this role entails and why it should appeal to them?
3. Soliciting of referrals: Does the person who I’d like to help me easily understand the type of candidate I seek?  Can they easily look through their contacts and know who to refer?

For those who have heard me harp on being a “recruiting expert” in your industry, this is a great way to help take that first step.   Find someone who is an expert of that domain and ask them how to typecast the talent you seek and then draw (yes, draw) it out.  Sure, a more senior recruiter can give you some of that information.  However, you will learn far more from someone on “the inside”, who lives in finance, engineering, hospitality, civil engineering.  

For those who do take this seriously and do it, please let me know.  I’d love to hear how the conversation went, your typecast and how you mapped it out. 8~)

Here are some ways to score brownie points with your Finance and Accounting while keep things positive with the candidates traveling to meet you:

• Have a travel policy that can be easily communicated and understood by candidates. Have a travel agency that can make arrangements (and bill you) within that policy while working with the candidate
• Have hotel and car service (preferred more than a rental car) that can bill you and confirm with your travel policy. What’s covered ? The mini bar?
• Ask for receipts that the candidate has while visiting you and/or give them a self-addressed envelop so they can mail them to you
• Have an expedited process that Accounting can do a quick turn around on the reimbursement check

Perhaps your friendly accounting group may not understand the importance of taking care of such details. So work with your purchasing manager head on over to your CFO’s office – I’ll wager the CFO will get that not making these arrangements create headaches for your company and sends the unintended, wrong message to your candidates.

“Hat tip” to American Airlines who now charge for checked in luggage and prompted me to blog this and give some serious thought to trading in my Citi AAdvantage Master Card.

Any other candidate travel ideas or (for me) mileage-earning credit cards? 8~)